On Friday 31 March, the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Mr Angelino Alfano, assisted by Ambassador Claudio Bisogniero, took part in NATO Foreign Ministers Meetings. The Alliance’s Foreign Ministers gathered in Brussels, at NATO Headquarters, to discuss fairer burden sharing, response to terrorism and unitary approach to Russia.
The Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg highlighted progress made by the Alliance in terms of defence spending, with a 10 billion dollar rise among European Allies and Canada.
NATO’s response to terrorism was a further core issue discussed at the meetings. In particular, Mr Stoltenberg stressed that one of the Alliance’s best tools in the fight against terrorism is training local forces.
Furthermore, Ministers analyzed current situation in Western Balkans, also in the light of Montenegro’s forthcoming accession to NATO.
Together with the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini, as well as Sweden and Finland Foreign Ministers, the discussions focused on NATO’s position on Russia: strong defence and deterrence combined with dialogue.
The Ministerial ended with a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Commission and talks on the Alliance’s strong political and practical support to Ukraine.
